Fox's availability a game-changer for Bears GM

What could the NFL's youngest general manager have in common with a veteran head coach just weeks shy of his 60th birthday?

As it turns out, quite a bit, at least in the case of the Bears' 37-year-old GM Ryan Pace and the team's new head coach, John Fox. The odd couple they aren't.

Fox and Pace were not acquainted before the new GM interviewed the prospective coach last Wednesday. Pace flew to Denver the following day to continue the courtship of Fox, and the deal was announced Friday.

"Coming into the process, we personally didn't know each other that well," Fox said. "(But) we had people that we respect in the league that knew both of us and felt very, very confident that we'd be perfect together. He flew out to Denver with his wife, Stephanie, spent time with my wife, Robin, and I, and it just clicked."

The most important of those mutual friends was New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, the former Naperville Central High School and Eastern Illinois University quarterback.

Payton and Fox were together for three years on Jim Fassel's New York Giants staff, and Payton and Pace worked together with the Saints the past nine years.

"Sean knows me extremely well," Pace said, "and obviously he knows John Fox extremely well. So that was huge."

The age difference in the Fox-Pace collaboration is minimized by Fox's youthful enthusiasm and Pace's beyond-his-years maturity.

"I kept on saying to myself, 'It's the best man for the job,' " Pace reminded himself during the interview process. "I really believe he's the best man for the job. He's about to turn 60 - and there's a lot of benefits with that - but I look at John Fox as being my age.

"He's a youthful personality, and he has the experience, so it's a perfect combination."

While the Bears were interviewing five other head-coaching candidates, Fox and Broncos general manager John Elway surprisingly parted ways after winning four straight AFC West titles together.

That changed everything.

"That was a game-changer for me, when he became available," Pace said. "I've followed his career closely. We were in the same division for a number of years when he was in Carolina (2002-10), and I always respected him from afar.

"But I didn't think it would happen (in Denver) like that. When he became available, it was 'Whoa, OK, let's talk about this and let's come up with a plan.' I felt good that we had the perfect guy for the job. The more time I spent with him and his family, the more it became apparent that he's the perfect man to lead our charge."

Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips, who has seen the rise and fall of five previous Bears coaches and three general managers, has high hopes for the Pace-Fox alliance.

"John Fox has great energy," Phillips said. "He's got great passion. He's got great leadership skills, and he's a winner. How do you beat that combination?

"With Ryan Pace, he came from a winning environment, so having that winning pedigree will only help make that infectious in our locker room and our building going forward."

Despite their disparate backgrounds, Fox and Pace both are starting over when it comes to the Bears. They realize there is much work to be done, but they can't wait to tackle the challenges.

"I looked over at him one night (last week)," Fox said, "and I said, 'Hey, what about this?' He goes, 'Coach, I've only been here four more days than you.'

"It'll be fun growing in this together."

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